Freespire changes name, Linspire goes free (as in beer) for a time

In a short story with a happy ending, the developer of a "free" version of Linspire called Freespire has agreed to change the name of his project, and Linspire Inc. is offering free copies of Linspire Linux "for a few days" (details below).

Freespire, which first popped up on Distrowatch.com last week, originally described itself as a free variant of Linspire Linux, with proprietary components and trademarks removed.

But the "Freespire" name was too close for comfort for Linspire, which is no stranger to trademark issues, having gone through a lengthy confrontation with Microsoft that resulted in its name change from Lindows Inc. to Linspire Inc. last summer.

"I found out about [Freespire] a few days ago when I returned from a business trip," Linspire CEO Kevin Carmony told DesktopLinux.com. "My reaction? It was no different than when I see people take code from any of our open source projects (Nvu, Lphoto, Lsongs, etc.). It's a good thing. I worried about the name."

Following a conversation with Carmony, Betts agreed to change the project's name.